SOS Africa’s longest serving Western Cape employee, Admin and Finance Manager Rae Morris reflects on the invaluable role she has played in the charity’s development since 2017…
“I have always thought that working directly with children who come from circumstances not a soul can envy, is one of the bravest things one can do … and I am NOT brave! I am FAR too emotional!
And then along comes the Admin and Finance position with The SOS Africa Western Cape Trust. I get to be part of a team genuinely making a difference while gratefully staying in the background – helping the kids in need, through administering our provision of education and aftercare, without having to manage my fragile responses to them.
Let me rewind a bit … it was back in 2017 when I first became involved with this fledging organisation. One of the first things I got stuck into was making sure that every employee had a contract, policies and procedures were drafted and that systems were in place to manage and monitor the charity’s finances; the journey towards total compliance was well on its way.
Then COVID hit – 2020 was a hard year for most but for me it was seamless. I had already functioned totally as a ‘work from homer’ and it was simply magnificent to witness how SOS Africa, forced to temporarily close their centres, dived into food provisioning for the families of our sponsored children and their communities!
At this time our CEO, Matt, made the move to remain in South Africa rather than commute here several times a year. Now things really got moving! I just carried on in the background supporting the team, making payments, and administering this, now truly organised and ever expanding, organisation.
Having Matt on hand and being in direct communication with him is a blessing. I am also fortunate to work closely with Trustee and Treasurer, Helena, making all the financial hoops we have to jump through much more manageable and tolerable. I further have had the pleasure of building genuinely amicable and cooperative relationships with essential partners of the organisation: our bank, insurers, lawyers, accountants, HR professionals and so on.
Over the years several Trustees and employees have come and gone, resulting in what can now literally be called an enthusiastic, hardworking, cooperative dream team … small enough for me to have direct contact with most of them and to be on good terms with each one.
And now in 2024 I find myself still in awe of the many sponsors, from those motivated by corporative Social Investment to compassionate individuals who simply give what they can to improve the quality of life of the children in our care. The phenomenal growth in size and functionality that has taken place over the years now includes expanding the holistic support we provide to children across the region and funding community training initiatives to support unemployed youth.
It is wonderful to see these years of investment and growth pay off; the entire organisation now runs so smoothly with strong foundations for further growth.”
Rae Morris
Admin and Finance Manager
The SOS Africa Western Cape Trust